Cheryl Cole - Is her career over?

By Jason Wright (Entertainment Expert)

THREE weeks ago, Cheryl Cole seemed to be on top of the world.  Now, not just her dream job in the US has been taken away, so now could her career.

DROPPED: Cheryl Cole's dream is conquer America is over

     Reports last Wednesday suggested that there was some unrest on The X-Factor USA judging panel and Fox hinted if things couldn’t be solved, action would be taken.  Then on Thursday morning, news filtered through in Britain that Cheryl had been fired, despite Simon Cowell’s willingness to keep her onboard.  The overall consent from the American media is simple; they just can’t understand her strong Newcastle accent, a reason that had been clearly dismissed furiously by the British public.

     A reshuffle will now take place within the programme.  Nicole Scherzinger is now expected to move from her presenting role onto the judging panel leaving Steve Jones to host as sole anchor.  This is certainly the best solution as Scherzinger did make a great impression when guest judging on last year’s UK series of the show.

     As for Cole she has returned home to Britain after just a 20-day stint in the Atlantic.  Her career is now in complete jeopardy, despite receiving the backing from JLS and Dannii Minogue.  Of course, there is the simple method of rejoining the UK version of the show.  That is unlikely, with auditions due to begin in Birmingham this week and it is almost certain now that Kelly Rowland and Tulisa from N-Dubz will join Gary Barlow and Louis Walsh on the judging table.  It wouldn’t be feasible for Cheryl to rejoin the programme because ITV would have to put filming of the programme on delay again.  They already had to do that when Minogue left a fortnight ago, which led to Simon Cowell calling a crisis meeting.  Her solo music career seems to have stalled and with a lack of communication with Girls Aloud, is this is the end of Cheryl Cole?

     It seems hard to accept indeed but sadly it seems to be that way for “The Nation’s Sweetheart.”  Having shot to fame in 2002 when selected to be in the line-up of Girls Aloud through the ITV talent show ‘Popstars: The Rivals,’ everything Cole touched from then seemed to turn to gold.  A turbulent four year marriage to Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole saw the public see her in a new light and a role on X-Factor soon beckoned.  There was a swing in popularity last year through a dismal series of X-Factor, which included refusing to send one of her acts home in a final sing-off in November, plus her near-fatal battle with malaria.

     Either way, it’s hard to argue that Cheryl has had a glittering level of success.  However, the ultimate question now is, is her career over?  Unless ITV hand her a remarkable and impossible lifeline, then unfortunately, the answer is yes.

FA Barclays Premiership Report (15th - 16th January)

ANOTHER weekend full of drama and intrigue, as the race to be Barclays Premiership winner hots up.  Five still remain in the race and the bottom of the table continues to tighten up; here are the reports from the latest action.

Sunday 16^th January: Liverpool 2-2 Everton

BELIEF: The Liverpool fans got behind Kenny, but they didn't win, AGAIN!

KENNY Dalglish earnt his first point in his second spell as Liverpool manager, but Everton will be the happier of the two sides after a pulsating 214^th Merseyside Derby.  Liverpool dominated the first half, and had a deserved half-time when Raul Meireles drilled a shot past Tim Howard on the half hour, his first goal for Liverpool.  Howard had saved smartly twice from Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres smashed the woodwork early on.  Less than a minute into the second half, the visitors were level when Sylvain Distin climbed about Martin Skrtel to guide a header home at the back post.  Six minutes later and Everton were infront.  Leon Osman created it and Jermaine Beckford drove his shot past Pepe Reina. Kuyt converted an equalising penalty midway through the second half with aplomb, after Howard’s unnecessary challenge on Maxi Rodriguez.  A draw was a fair result on the balance of play, but Liverpool stay perilously close to the bottom three.

Sunday 16^th January: Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle United

NEWCASTLE controlled the Tyne & Wear derby throughout, but Asamoah Gyan scored a priceless equaliser to grab a fortunate point for Sunderland.  Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan scored his fourth goal in two games against the arch enemy this season.  His clever backheel from Joey Barton’s corner have the Magpies a deserved lead.  In the fourth minute of added on time, Phil Bardsley’s shot was only parried by Steve Harper and the ball rebounded off the Ghanaian Gyan, lifting the roof off the Stadium of Light.  Both sides remain in the top half, and can dream of European football.

Sunday 16^th January: Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Manchester United

DESPITE training at White Hart Lane, David Beckham could only watch on as Manchester United extended their unbeaten run at Tottenham.  In a poor game that failed to live up to its top billing expectations, Peter Crouch blasted wide with Tottenham’s best chance.  Wayne Rooney forced two smart saves from Hereulho Gomes for the away side, who had young Brazilian Rafael sent off for two yellow cards; the second an unfortunate collision with Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

Saturday 15^th January: Manchester City 4-3 Wolves

UNTIL their rivals point in North London, Manchester City had top spot for 24 hours, but they had to work very hard against Wolves.  Nenad Mijias struck to put the visitors infront with a scrappy goal, before Kolo Toure equalised for sleepy City.  Edin Dzeko came close on his debut, but the £27million was put in the shade by Carlos Tevez, who was magical again, scoring twice.  Yaya Toure put the game beyond Wolves, but they fought to the death at Eastlands.  Joleon Lescott bought down Kevin Doyle in the penalty area, the Irishman converted the penalty before an own goal from Nigel de Jong made it a very nervous finish.  City held on though, to keep the pressure on United at the top.

Sunday 16^th January: Birmingham City 1-1 Aston Villa

DESERVED: James Collins earnt Villa a share of the spoils

A POINT wasn’t ideal for both cities in the Second City derby, as local pride again remained intact.  Craig Gardner’s poor free-kick bounced off David Murphy, and fell into the path of Roger Johnson, who turned the ball into the net from seven yards soon into the second half for Birmingham, his first goal since August.  Villa, who created the more chances and hit the crossbar four times, earned their deserved point through their own centre-back.  James Collins struck via a deflection from Liam Ridgewell, enough to take them out of the bottom three. 

Saturday 15^th January: West Ham United 0-3 Arsenal

DIGNITY: Avram Grant keeps cool, even though his job remains on the line

ARSENAL kept on the coattails of the two Manchester clubs, on a day when Avram Grant was lucky to make it to kick-off.  Intense rumours of his departure can’t have helped the Hammers, who were ripped apart by the Gunners right from the outset.  With 13 minutes gone, Robin Van Persie had Arsenal infront and Theo Walcott made it 2-0 before half-time.  West Ham were outpaced and outclassed, as Jack Wilshire and Cesc Fabregas pulled the strings in midfield throughout.  Wayne Bridge, on loan from Manchester City, had a miserable debut at left-back and having been terrorised by Walcott’s pace all evening, hacked him down in the penalty area.  Van Persie duly scored the penalty to complete the scoring.  Grant threw his scarf into the crowd at the final whistle, whose dignity remains intact, although the West Ham board deserves to take some stick for the way they have treated the Israeli.  It felt like the long goodbye, but with Martin O’Neill pulling out of the race to be manager this morning, Grant now looks like he will stay on as manager until the end of the season at least.

Saturday 15^th January: West Brom 3-2 Blackpool

AN ABSOLUTE humdinger at the Hawthorns, which could easily have ended 10-10!  David Vaughan had Blackpool infront in the early exchanges, with his goal being cancelled out by the dangerous Peter Odemwingie.  James Morrison’s deflected effort had West Brom infront, but Gary Taylor-Fletcher scored his second goal of the week (he netted in Blackpool’s 2-1 win over Liverpool on January 12) to make it 2-2.  Odemwingie won it for the Albion, getting goal side of Craig Cathcart and bending an effort past Matt Gilks to give West Brom their first win in six matches.

Saturday 15^th January: Chelsea 2-0 Blackburn Rovers

CHELSEA returned to the top four in the league, recording only their second win in ten Barclays Premier League games against a resilient Blackburn side.  Despite Didier Drogba continuing to look a pale shadow of his former self, Chelsea scored twice in the second half, courtesy of Branislav Ivanovic and Nicholas Anelka.

Saturday 15^th January: Stoke City 2-0 Bolton Wanderers

STOKE moved upto eighth in the table, after recording a deserved victory against a Bolton side, that have now lost their last five matches away from home.  It was a miserable afternoon for Bolton keeper Juusi Jaaskelainen.  He scored an own goal in the first half, although Danny Higginbotham will claim it.  After Zat Knight pressed the self-destruct button by missing the ball and clattering into Matthew Etherington, the Stoke winger just about scored the penalty, despite Jaaskelainen getting two hands onto the ball.

Saturday 15^th January: Wigan Athletic 1-1 Fulham

DROUGHT: Ended for Andy Johnson

FOR the fifth year in a row, this fixture ended in a draw, leaving Wigan trapped in the bottom three.  Hugo Rodallega broke the deadlock for Wigan in the second half.  However, Fulham showed a lot of character to recover and despite Clint Dempsey having a goal ruled out correctly for handball, salvation for the Cottagers came from Andy Johnson.  It was a scrappy goal, but AJ couldn’t care less, as he scored his first Premiership goal since February 2009.  

FA Barclays Premiership Report (11th - 13th December)

TWO weeks to go until Christmas and it was another dramatic weekend of top flight action.  Manchester United remained unbeaten, Newcastle made a winning start to a management change and Blackburn Rovers bid farewell to Sam Allardyce.

Monday 13^th December: Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal

WINNER: Park scored the decisive goal at Old Trafford

MANCHESTER United charged back to the top of the Premiership table last night, after a deserved victory over title contenders Arsenal.  United were far from their best, but didn’t need to be, against a Gunners side that lacked the ambition needed to sustain a proper challenge.  Ji-Sung Park scored the only goal, with a looping header eight minutes from half-time.  In the second half, Gael Clichy blocked Nani’s cross with his hand, only for Wayne Rooney to smash the spot kick over the crossbar.

Sunday 12^th December: Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Blackburn Rovers

GET IN THERE: Fabrice Muamba is congratulated on his goal

SAM Allardyce was harshly sacked as Blackburn manager yesterday after losing late on at his former club, Bolton.  These Lancashire teams shared a dreadful first half, but the second half livened up with Mark Davies was given a second yellow card for leaning his arm into the back of Phil Jones head.  Ten men Bolton then took the lead, when Fabrice Muamba showed good footwork to leave Ryan Nelsen for dead, before burying his effort past Paul Robinson.  With three minutes to, Mame Diouf seemed to have rescued a point for Rovers, a lovely clip over Juusi Jaaskelainen.  However, Stuart Holden snatched it straight back for Bolton, with a good finish to win the match and keep Wanderers in the top six.

Sunday 12^th December: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Chelsea

REDEMPTION: Gomes kept out Drogba's penalty

ANOTHER sensational Sunday at White Hart Lane saw Didier Drogba waste a glorious chance for Chelsea to return to winning ways.  Roman Pavyluchenko had Spurs infront on 15 minutes, converting Jermain Defoe’s square ball.  Drogba, who started on the bench, did equalise.  The Ivorian reacted quicker than Michael Dawson to a long ball and got lucky, when Hereulho Gomes made a meal of Drogba’s shot.  Gomes miserable second half continued, when he clumsily took out Ramires in stoppage time and conceded a penalty.  However, he redeemed himself, by saving Drogba’s very average penalty.

Saturday 11^th December: Newcastle United 3-1 Liverpool

EXAMPLE: Kevin Nolan got Newcastle off to a flying start

ANOTHER dramatic week at St. James Park, and the fans displeasure at Mike Ashley was evidently shown by protests outside the ground before the match.  However, the players reacted well and gave the new gaffer Alan Pardew the dream start.  Skipper Kevin Nolan led by example, opening the scoring.  Dirk Kuyt equalised for Liverpool, gaining a massive slice of fortune, as his shot took a deflection off Steven Taylor.  Once again, Liverpool’s miserable away day blues continued in the last ten minutes.  Joey Barton capitalised on indecision from Martin Skrtel to hammer the Geordies back infront again.  Andy Carroll consigned Roy Hodgson to another shambolic defeat, finding the bottom corner from long range in stoppage time.

Saturday 11^th December: West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City

ON TOP: David Silva holds off Scott Parker in City's win

YAYA Toure piled on the agony for West Ham United with two goals, lifting Manchester City into the top three.  His first was a screaming strike, which Robert Green didn’t even see.  Toure’s second was a squeezed effort past Green at his near post.  As it came off the goalkeeper’s back, it will probably go down as an own goal, but I’d credit the goal to Toure.  In between these moments of magic from the holding midfielder, Mario Balotelli showed a childish act of dissent, got booked, subbed and went straight down the tunnel without even looking at Roberto Mancini.  Substitute Adam Johnson made it 3-0 and although James Tomkins managed a late consolation, it did very little to ease Avram Grant’s pain.

Sunday 12^th December: Wolves 1-0 Birmingham City

WINNER: Stephen Hunt got the winning goal at Molineux

WOLVES bullied Birmingham and fully deserved the three points in this local derby, moving them three points clear of basement team West Ham United in the process.  The winner came right on the stroke of half-time, courtesy of Stephen Hunt, sweeping a shot past Ben Foster at the near post.  Foster was terrific all game and prevented the scoreline from being a landslide.  It is Wolves first clean sheet of the season, Birmingham continue to look for their first away win since March.

Saturday 11^th December: Stoke City 0-1 Blackpool

TWO teams who share an affection of the late Sir Stanley Matthews played out an entertaining clash at the Britannia Stadium.  Tony Pulis will be wondering just how Stoke didn’t get anything from this match.  Rory Delap had a goal disallowed and both Ricardo Fuller and Matthew Etherington had shots that hit the woodwork.  DJ Campbell scored the decisive goal and dogged defending from the visitors secured another fighting victory for Ian Holloway’s side.

Saturday 11^th December: Aston Villa 2-1 West Brom

THERE seemed to be a massive feeling of relief for Aston Villa on Saturday, inflicting defeat on local rivals West Brom.  Stewart Downing scored the first and Emile Heskey the second, after James Collins made a nuisance of himself in the box.  West Brom’s winless run at Villa Park continued, and although Paul Scharner made it a twitchy last few minutes, Villa held on for a priceless victory.

Saturday 11^th December: Everton 0-0 Wigan Athletic

STRUGGLING: Louis Saha's lack of goals highlights Everton's problems

EVERTON could have had a hatful, but someone got none against Wigan Athletic.  Ronnie Stam had one shot saved brilliantly by Tim Howard, but it was the Toffees who were well on top.  Tim Cahill came the closest, hitting the post with goalkeeper Scott Carson beaten.  Maroualine Fellani, Seamus Coleman, Jack Rodwell and Steven Pienaar on three separate occasions all wasted golden opportunities for the home side.

Saturday 11^th December: Fulham 0-0 Sunderland

THIS game was an absolute stinker.  In fact, it was so bad that it doesn’t even deserve reporting on.  The highlight came when Bolo Zenden got knocked out by a football!

Snow returns . . . and it's set to stay

WINTER has definitely arrived and so too has the snow.  Worse still, the Met Office has predicted that this cold snap will last for another ten days at the minimum. 

Police have urged drivers to only drive in these tricky conditions if it is absolutely necessary.  Those living in the North East of England have currently experienced the worst of the wintery conditions.  In some areas, upto five inches of snow have fallen in less than two hours.  Temperatures across the UK have struggle to rise about freezing, dropping to as low as -17 degrees in Wales overnight, the coldest ever temperature in November on record.

FOUL: Cars have fallen to the conditions in Scotland

Luckily, there hasn’t been any reports of major incidents this weekend, largely as the gritting services seem to have been well prepared in advance, and the lack of rush to get to places from commuters.  That could very well change at the start of this week, with heavy snow forecast for Monday evening in many regions.  Winds from the North East are keeping the temperature down and the snow to fall on a constant basis.  Currently, the Met Office has severe weather warnings in place throughout East Anglia, Scotland, Northern Ireland, London, Yorkshire and the South East.  The AA has reported an 80% surge in calls of breakdowns over the course of the weekend, a staggering statistic.

SPIRIT: Communities are pulling together to help out

Health workers are urging people to check on vulnerable neighbours, to make sure that they have all the possible services available to them, such as proper heating and plenty of hot drinks.  Flights are likely to be affected at many of the largest airports in the coming days, especially Stanstead, Newcastle and Manchester.  Trains are likely to be badly hit too, with the 24-hour tube strike being held right now, just adding to the misery for many commuters.  The sporting programme has been hit, although all key rugby union autumn internationals and Premiership football matches went ahead.  Two FA Cup ties (at Hartlepool and Notts County) fell foul to the weather, as did some of the programme in Scotland and several horse racing meetings.

 

Residents in the UK will be used to the white stuff, last winter was the coldest for a long time and snow also caused chaos at the start of 2009.  However, the timing of this snow has caught many by surprise.  This is the earliest time that snow has fallen on a constant basis since 1993.  The big chill is here and it will please some, particularly schoolchildren, who could be set for a number of days off.  However, this cold snap will bite and bite hard.  The UK is bracing itself for more sub-zero temperatures and I’d say, get prepared for it, because it will hang around for a good while. . . 

The Hunt Is Over For Raoul Moat

After a week of chasing and a six-hour gripping stand-off on Friday night, gunman Raoul Moat shot himself, bringing a drama that gripped the nation to a conclusion.

Moat, 37 has been involved in a tense stand-off with the police in Rothbury, Northumberland for a week.  He was released from prison in Durham, after an 18-week sentence for assault last week.  He insisted on his Facebook page that ‘bad things were going to happen.’  In the resulting days, he shot his ex-girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart and killed her new partner, Chris Brown.  PC David Rathband was shot by Moat 24 hours later in Newcastle, whilst sitting in his patrol car.  There is speculation going around that Moat was incensed with the police, believing that Rathband had been having an affair with Stobbart.

After a week of unknown whereabouts, yet a lot of clues to where Moat was hiding out, it all came to a head on Friday night.  The former nightclub bouncer was cornered by police, whilst in his supposed hideout area, not far away from the River Coquet.  Six hours of tense, stand-off negotiations followed, with police from around the area called in, both as negotiators and ready to fire, should Moat, armed with a gun try and shoot his way out of trouble.  In the early hours of Saturday morning, Raoul Moat finally turned the gun on himself, though it has now been discovered that police did fire two stun shots at him.  Examinations have shown that he died from gunshot wounds, which were similar to the bullets he had used on his three victims previously.  After being rushed to hospital, he was pronounced dead at 2.20am on Saturday morning, at Newcastle General Hospital.  Flowers and tributes have been left outside his Newcastle home. 

As the community of Rothbury tries to return to normality, after a week of mayhem, here is a brief lookback at some of the week’s key moments.

THE RAOUL MOAT CHASE

Thursday 1^st July: Raoul Moat is released from Durham prison, after serving an 18-week sentence.

Saturday 3^rd July: Chris Brown is shot dead and Moat’s former girlfriend, Samantha Stobbart is shot twice.  Police launch a manhunt for Moat, believing that the shootings are connected.

Sunday 4^th July: PC David Rathband is shot on a roundabout in Newcastle, whilst sitting in the driver’s seat of a patrol car.  Once again, the shooting is connected to the previous incidents.  Police appeal again for Moat to give himself up again, and the public are warned not to approach this man.

Monday 5^th July: Extra firearm officers from Cumbria and Yorkshire are brought in to help with the search for Moat, a revelation on Moat’s Facebook status suggests the trouble “just got out of jail, I’ve lost everything…Watch and see what happens.”

Tuesday 6^th July: A black Lexus car, believed to be in possession of Moat is found in Rothbury.  Northumbria police warn the public to stay indoors, armed police officers and dogs are now searching almost everywhere for Moat, and an exclusion zone within Rothbury has been set-up.

Wednesday 7^th July: The search intensifies.  Stobbart is no longer in a critical condition and has made a direct appeal for Moat to give himself up.  Police offer a £10,000 reward for information, which could lead to his capture.  They also find a detailed letter in a tent, that Moat had written to Stobbart, which suggests he has been sleeping rough.

Thursday 8^th July: A CCTV image of Moat in a B&Q shop in Newcastle is released to the public.  This was taken one day before the shootings.  Threats have been made towards the wider public; two men are arrested, accused of being “part and parcel” of Moat’s attempt to kill PC David Rathband.

Friday 9^th July: Three mobile phones used by Moat are recovered by the police and a RAF Tornado has joined the hunt, equipped with satellite imaging.  At 7.27pm, the public are encouraged to stay indoors, as a major operation takes place.  Moat is found at 8pm and negotiations begin for him to give himself up.

Saturday 10^th July: After a six-hour stand-off, Moat shoots himself at 1.15am and is rushed to hospital, where he is pronounced dead an hour later.  It is revealed that police involved in the stand-off with Moat fire two taser stun guns at him